


Long Roads

by POXY_DIXON



Category: The Walking Dead (TV), The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Clementine is a badass, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, Daryl and Clementine are the cutest, F/F, F/M, How Do I Tag, M/M, Violence, Violence Against Walkers, as always, big bro Daryl, eventual AJ x Judith because why not
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-25 18:37:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20030479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/POXY_DIXON/pseuds/POXY_DIXON
Summary: Five months. Five months since the rest stop. Clementine and AJ have been on the road for a long time, perhaps too long. Though when Clementine meets a man with a crossbow, she has a little bit of hope. Just a little.Takes place after S2 of the game, first few episodes of S3 after Lori's death. Little bit of Carl/Clementine.





	1. Endless Roads

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clementine and AJ have been on the road for a while with seemingly no hope, but she finds something that brings back that little bit of hope into her life.

_"Clem, I did it for you."_

_ "You have to forgive me, please.." _

I was snapped out of my thoughts when I heard a whimper. I whipped my head around to see little AJ beginning to cry, covered in the tangled, old, ratty blanket I found a few months ago. I could barely see his face in the dark of night, and I couldn't make a fire because of the rain but I could make out a small little frown drawn on his face. He was protected under a small makeshift little tent I made for him that was placed near the base of a tree so he could lean on, which was basically a few sticks stuck in the ground and my large flannel jacket that barely fit me tossed over the sticks to shelter him from the rain that was down pouring on us. 

I looked at him sympathetically and scooted over to him, attempting to hush him with a 'there, there'. It didn't work. I huffed in disappointment but just then did an idea strike me. "Okay, wanna play that game, huh?" I said quietly but obvious mischief lacing my voice. 

I stuck out my tongue while making a silly face.

And he thought it was comedy gold, the baby giggled a little bit, a dumb smile plastered on his face. He was never much of a talker, but I suppose that's a good thing now days. 

I gave the boy a small smile before glancing over at the two bottles of water I left lying out. The bottles were about to overflow, not like that was a bad thing, and I quickly twisted the cap on one, stuffing it into my backpack and downed the other. I took the bottle from my lips as I looked out into the distant trees surrounding me. It seems like all I was living off of was water, I gave most of my food to AJ and I was almost out of formula. We needed food, and _soon_. 

I listened closely to the raindrops falling on to the leaf covered ground and other noises. I was surprised it's only been a few hours since the last walker I've encountered. I gave a deep sigh at the thought of those creatures and put my head in my hands for a moment, just to think. I knew I should be keeping watch at all times, for AJ's sake, but I couldn't help it. I needed this.

Tears began to flow down my cheeks as I looked up, my hands covering my mouth as I quietly sobbed. Everything, everyone.. I never really got a chance to mourn. Another group, just like that. Just... poof. All gone. It's only been 5 months. I've been so focused on keeping AJ and myself alive that I never really got the chance. I let out a shaky sigh and looked down. 

I put a hand on my chest and steadied my breathing, just like how my dad told me, way back when. I brushed a wet hair sticking to my forehead away, tucking it behind my ear and wiped away the tears. I looked at the sleeping baby boy behind me. I let out a breath and gave a sad smile, "I love you, goofball." I whispered. I then turned back around and noticed the sky was turning a gentler, lighter blue and the rain was starting to stop.

It's a new day.

The hot sun beat down on me, and my arms were getting exhausted from carrying AJ all day. My ankles hurt like _hell_, yet all I could do was swallow the pain and continue down the seemingly endless street in the middle of nowhere. 

I bit my lip and closed my eyes tightly for a brief moment before yelping out in pain as I collapsed to my knees. AJ began to cry. I opened my eyes, one arm carrying AJ and the other holding me up. "I'm... I'm so sorry.." I mumbled as I slowly began to get up. I almost fell back down but managed to get up. An idea popped in my mind. I slid my backpack off my shoulders and crouched, still cradling AJ. I unzipped the bag and took my flannel off once again, only leaving me in my grey shirt. I padded the flannel at the bottom of the backpack and gently put AJ in my backpack, leaving it unzipped at the top. He could still peak his head out but it at least gave my arms a rest.

I almost laughed at the sight of baby AJ poking his head out of my backpack as I turned my head back around to keep going down the road. It was then that I heard groaning and leaves being crunched. I quickly got out my screwdriver and stood my ground. I knew it was a walker, but how many was the question. It sounded like one, but it could be two, three... four. 

Turns out it was the second guess. Two walkers stumbled out of the greenery surrounding the road and started to groan and moan even louder when they laid eyes on me. I took out the knees of the first one that was closest to me, but quickly backed up and thrust my knife into the second one that was close behind the former. The original walker was starting to get back up but I swiftly took him out with a quick thrust to the head with my screwdriver.

It was only then that I was pulled out of my trance to hear AJ crying. I turned my head around and gently hummed a song to him, as quietly as I could. He started to quiet down, but I could still hear him sniffling. He wasn't _too_ loud, anyway.

A few minutes went by of the same, boring, dull walking until I came across a sign. 

'NO HOPE in 5 miles'

The "no hope" was graffiti covering the name of... whatever that use to be. I was just hoping I could find something, anything. Anything that would help. I was honestly at the lowest of the low, and I really just needed some light in all this darkness.

An hour goes by and I finally find something. A gas station. I let out a sigh, quickly walking to the glass door. I was surprised it wasn't broken yet, though it did have some cracks and a lot of dust on it. Some blood, too.

I placed my fist on to the door and knocked in a cheerful pattern, waiting for a walker to come. I held on to the door handle as I saw a single walker practically jump on the door, it's dead, glassy eyes eyeing me hungrily. I finally let go of the door and backed up quickly, getting my screwdriver. The walker almost grabbed me but I held on to it's neck and jammed my weapon straight into it's skull. Before the corpse could topple on to me I threw it to the ground.

I was genuinely surprised at what I found, sure, they were all just snacks and junk food, I mean, it's a gas station, what do you except? But food was food, and I was happy with what I found, especially the stale M & M's I was going to save for later. 

I had my screwdriver in my hand as I checked the backroom of the old station. Lucky me, I didn't run into more walkers and the backroom was relatively safe, didn't have any windows for walkers (or people) to see me or AJ in, other than the really high, small one in the corner but I doubted anyone would climb to see in there. 

I set my backpack down and got out the ratty, old blanket, laying it gently across the floor and picked AJ up from my backpack, setting him gently down on the blanket and got my flannel out from the backpack as well, wrapping the boy in it.

I checked my other unorganized supplies in my backpack and saw my gun, I haven't used that in a while. It only had a few bullets in it, and I wanted to save those for emergencies. I took out a pretzel bag I found in the front room of the station and got out the last bottle of formula for AJ. I looked hopelessly at the bottle, then AJ. He looked a little excited when he spotted the bottle, like knowing he was going to be fed. I smiled sadly at the boy and scooped him up, feeding him the formula.

I lifted him up and patted his back, waiting for him to burp. Once he did, I set him back down as my mouth was practically watering for pretzels, yeah, pretzels. I fumbled with the bag as I tried to rip it open, and stuffed the salty chip into my mouth, almost moaning at how good it tasted. If I was eating pretzels a few years ago, I probably would've eaten them like a normal person, and not a crazy eleven-year-old girl. My amber eyes wandered over to the five-month-old baby boy sleeping, my flannel bundling him up. At first, I never understood how a parent could love their child so much, I knew they did, but I never could understand how. I think I understand now though. AJ's life feels more important than mine, I can't really explain why or how, it just does.

I yawned and stretched, looking up at the small window in the corner, noticing it was getting dark and the stars were starting to come out. I got up and got out my old hatchet I used to use, shoving it between the door handle, it was already locked but just to be safe. I laid down next to the sleeping baby and closed my eyes, eventually falling asleep for the first time in awhile.

Maybe everything would be alright. AJ and me would be alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a relatively short chapter, I'll make the next one longer. Also, in this AU they're a little over a year into the apocalypse, not two years like in the video game. Clementine basically stays with Christa for a shorter time. This chapter takes place 5 months after the events of season 2 of the game, and will be into the first few episodes of season 3 in the show, yes yes, I know, TWDG takes place in the comic universe but I haven't read the comics yet so I'm using the show's plot.
> 
> \- Poxy


	2. The Man With a Crossbow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clementine runs into a stranger.

I woke up to a horrid, repeated, banging.

I shot up and whipped my head around to see if AJ was still there, he was, and somehow sleeping peacefully through it. I grabbed my screwdriver and pulled my hatchet out of the handle, bringing that with me, too. I slowly opened the door and peaked out. Walkers. Not a herd, but a pretty large group of walkers were banging on the door. I wondered how they couldn't get in, as the door wasn't a door that you had to turn a knob to open, you simply pushed it and it opened. I then noticed an old mop in between the door handles and squinted my eyes. I didn't put that there...

When I noticed a man rise up from behind the counter did I pull myself back and almost slammed the door. I didn't, luckily not drawing attention towards myself. I slowly peaked out behind the door. The man had brown hair, and wore a leather jacket with the sleeves cut off, angel wings on the back. At first, I didn't know why he was bending over, but I only knew when he lifted up a loaded crossbow. My eyes widened slightly but went back to observing what he was doing. He didn't look phased at all by the looming number of walkers banging on the door as he put down the crossbow, along with a small bag. 

As slowly and quietly as possible I backed away from the door, letting it slowly shut. I crawled over to my bag, grabbing my gun, I checked the round and saw how many bullets it had. Three. Maybe I could scare him off. Hopefully. I really wasn't in the mood to kill anyone right now.

I slowly opened the door, and slowly started to approach him with my gun aimed straight at his head. I saw him try to go for his crossbow again. _Shit._ I thought, _he must've heard me_. I pulled back the hammer, making an unmistakable 'click' noise. He stopped midway through the action. He slowly put down his crossbow and raised his hands. He finally spoke over the groaning of walkers and banging on the glass door. "What do you want?"

He had a scratchy voice with a slight Southern accent, I simply huffed. "All I want is for you to get out." I firmly stated, gun still pointed to the man's head. When he didn't respond I spoke up again, "Put down the crossbow." I ordered. I could tell he was a little pissed when he slightly slumped his shoulders but complied anyway, I mean, I had a gun pointed at his head, what else was he going to do? He glanced over his shoulder and looked at me, then turned his head again. "You're a kid."

I furrowed my eyebrows and walked a little closer, shoving the barrel of the gun directly on to his head. "Yeah. So what?"

He raised his head a little bit towards the crowd of walkers and responded, "Look, neither of us are gonna get out of here, and that glass is gonna break anytime now."

I bit my lip angrily, realizing how right he was. "Goddammit.."

I mumbled to myself. Groaning internally, I lowered my gun but it was still pointed at him.

Like on cue, The glass finally broke and dozens of walkers finally came crawling in, getting covered in broken glass. "Shit!" I heard the man say, he quickly went for his crossbow and I took out my screwdriver, I looked behind me and quickly ran to the backroom door, slamming it shut. I turned around to be met with a walker. I grabbed it's arms and struggled with it for a bit as it tried to take a chunk out of me. I kept trying to prevent it from biting or scratching me until the tip of an arrow was seen in it's forehead. The walker dropped to the floor and I looked up to see the man lower his crossbow from where the walker was. He turned around, reloaded his crossbow and quickly shooting another walker in front of him.

I widened my eyes a bit but then focused on the next walker that was coming towards me and I kicked it at the knee, knocking it down as I jabbed the screwdriver into it's head.

A walker came charging at me directly behind the previous one I had killed and I dove over the counter. I gasped as the walker managed to grab my arm. I furrowed my eyebrows and and kicked the glass under the counter repeatedly until it broke into thousands of glass shards and pieces. I kept pulling away from the walker as it tried to bite me, I just managed to grab a glass shard with my fingertips and got a better grip on it. I winced as the palm of my hand bled, blood dripping down my hand and wrist. I stabbed the walker's eye, but he still kept holding on and trying to bite at me. It must not have gone in deep enough! I thrusted the glass shard into the walker's eye again, and again. It finally "died", it's head falling straight on the counter.

I dropped my glass shard and cringed as I looked at the horrible gash on the palm of my hand.I picked the screwdriver back up and dealt with a few more walkers.

Jamming my screwdriver into yet another walker I whipped my head around to see if the man was still there, and he was, he was about to stab a walker in the head, his hand around it's neck.

I then saw another reanimated corpse coming up behind him. I let out a quick gasp and knowing I wouldn't get there in time I reached for my gun and pulled back the hammer, and pulled back the trigger.

A loud _BANG_ was heard as the walker dropped to the floor, it's dark blood splattering on to the floor and the man jabbed his knife into the skull of the walker he was struggling with. He turned around to look at the walker with a small hole in the side of it's head and then looked up at me, "Good work," he added, "but that shot probably rang out for miles." He went to pick up his crossbow, "Should get going if I were you." I put my gun back in my holster and frowned. He got the strap of the crossbow over his shoulder and then directed his gaze to my palm. I darted my eyes towards it as well but quickly brushed it off, "It's nothing. I'll deal with it."

His eyes then met mine and I knew he didn't believe me. Worth a try, I guess. He crouched down and ripped the ends of his pant leg, and then held out his hand to me. I hesitated for a moment before giving him my bloody palm. He swiftly wrapped it up tightly. It at least put pressure on it for now.

I pulled my hand back and briefly examined the cloth tightly blanketing my palm. "Thanks." I said quietly, putting my hand back to my side.

Just then, I heard the cries of AJ. A worried expression quickly plastered my face and I ran to the door of the backroom, hastily turning the nob and opening it to see AJ still on the floor, awake this time, and sobbing. I heard the man following behind me but I ignored him. My priority was to quiet and calm AJ so he wouldn't cause any more walkers to show up. I scooped up the baby and rocked him up and down slowly while shushing him, whispering continuous 'it's ok' to him.

I lifted my head up to see the same man standing in the doorway with a slight sympathetic expression that covered his face. He opened his mouth and spoke up, "You're alone?"

I turned my head to the ground and continued to cradle AJ, "Yeah. Just me and him." I answered.

"Name's Daryl." The man- Daryl, introduced himself.

I turned my head back to look up at him and thinned my lips, "Clementine," I nodded my head towards the baby I was holding, "His name is AJ. Alvin Junior." Daryl paused for a moment before speaking up once again, "I have a group-"

Before he could continue I cut him off, "I'm not looking to join a group." I snapped, my eyes showing a mixture of emotions. His eyes softened, "You don't have to join us. I'm just saying, we have a safe place that maybe you and your boy could stay. Just for a lil' while."

I bit my lip. Sure, Daryl seemed nice. So did the people at the Dairy Farm. But I just met him, would I really risk AJ's life for supposed safety? My eyes darted back to the ground, rubbing AJ's back as I thought.

I deeply sighed and looked back up at Daryl. "Alright. But if you or anyone in that group hurts AJ in any way," My gaze hardened as I stared daggers into him.

"I'll kill every last one of you."

I looked at him nervously as I saw him stop his freaking motorcycle in front of the gas station, there was some sort of... possum thing hanging off the side of it. I pulled up my backpack strap as I held AJ in my other arm. Daryl looked back at me like this was a normal occurrence. "What? I told you we'd get there fast." I huffed and rolled my eyes, "So, how is AJ going to get on there?" I asked, thinking he forgot about the baby. He tossed me this weird... strap thing, with a buckle at the end. "Tie that to him and yourself, but keep an arm on him, just to be safe." He said as he got on to his bike, I raised an eyebrow at the strap and tied it around AJ and myself, buckling the end.

I hopped on to his bike, one arm holding AJ in front of me and the other tightly around Daryl. I jumped slightly when he suddenly started to speed down the road, leaving the gas station behind us. I tilted my head slightly and looked suspiciously at the back of his head, "So, what is this place anyways!?" I shouted over the rum of the bike's engine. Daryl tilted his head slightly back and responded, "A prison!" A bewildered expression was plastered on my face. "A prison!?"

And there it was, the prison. Large gates, watch towers on every end. The building was big, and looked secure. Walkers surely couldn't get in. As we rode to the large gates I saw a boy, about my age, with some sort of... cowboy hat. He had short brown hair, pale skin with light eyes. I couldn't see what color they were from the distance I was at but they were either green or blue. The boy pulled back the gate as Daryl slowed down the bike a bit when we got near the boy. I could tell he was a little weary of me. I don't blame him, me being a stranger and all.

As Daryl slowed down he looked over to the boy as he closed the gate, "She's alright. I'll introduce her later." Daryl said to the boy. The kid glanced over to me one last time before nodding.

Daryl then drove ahead, driving through a field which I can only guess was the courtyard. My expression softened as I spotted some graves that looked like they were made recently, by the end of the field. They were wooden, and there was a pretty white flower on one of them. He stopped once we got to another gate at the end of the small road in the yard, parking and hopping off his bike and opening another gate. _I guess it's pretty secure here_. I thought, still holding on to AJ. Daryl unparked his bike and hopped on again, driving past the gate he just opened but still going at a slow pace and then parked his bike, finally getting off once again.

Daryl grabbed his possum looking animal and threw it over his shoulder, looking over to me. "Are you just going to sit there?" He called, starting to walk away. I widened my eyes and fumbled with the strap around me and AJ, unbuckling it and picking AJ up, along with my backpack. "I'm coming!" I shouted as I ran to catch up with him.

I followed Daryl as we walked down a dark hallway, walker bodies scattered all over the floor, I placed each step with caution, in case a walker ended up still being "alive". I looked back up at Daryl, who was casually walking down the hallway. "You're sure they're all dead?" I questioned, hinted nervousness in my voice. He continued to walk as he answered, "Yeah, we cleared it."

I thinned my lips once again at his answer. There was a barred door at the end of the hall, Daryl opened it as light shined on to my face and I squinted my eyes, adjusting to the lighting of the room. He walked down a few steps and I examined the room, it was mostly made out of concrete and it had a few tables at the bottom, and I could see some supplies there, food, medical supplies, etc. My mouth was slightly open from awe. I smiled down at AJ, "What do you think, AJ?" I whispered to him. The baby giggled and reached up to play with my loose curls of hair. My smile disappeared as I walked back up to Daryl who was waiting in front of me, and I could just see a faint smile on his face. "C'mon, I'll introduce you to the others." He spoke and walked ahead of me, I followed close behind. I entered another large room, a cell block.

There was an upper level for the cells, a staircase leading up to them. A girl with blonde hair tied up in a ponytail was sitting on the steps, right next to... My jaw dropped and I almost dropped AJ, _almost_.

"Holy shit."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow ok guys epic
> 
> this was originally going to be longer but I wanted to leave it on a cliffhanger so I just cut a few paragraphs and will put those in chapter 3. So don't worry, chapter 3 will most likely be out in a few days, a week at most. This chapter takes place on the day Season 3 Episode 6 "Hounded" takes place, so Clementine will soon be involving herself in the whole Governor drama.  
\- Poxy


	3. Outsider

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clementine tries to ease her way into the group, and opens up to Daryl.

"Holy shit."  
  
The elderly man looked up from the book he was reading and looked as shocked as I did, as I also noticed he was missing half his right leg, but brushed it off with a quick laugh. "You should watch your language there, young lady." Hershel flashed me a smile, "I reckon you kept your name, Clementine, wasn't it?"   
I quickly processed what was happening and nodded, "Hershel?" I gave a small smile, the blonde girl that was sitting next to Hershel turned her head, giving a questioning look towards the older man. "You know her, daddy?" Hershel gave a short nod and looked at me, "She was with that man and family when... when you and Maggie were out." The blonde girl's curious expression disappeared off her face as looked down to the floor, some strands of hair covering her face, "Oh." Along with her, my smile disappeared as well, Hershel looked back up at me. Being sympathetic, I frowned, "I'm sorry." I apologized, remembering the death of his son, Shawn.  
  
Daryl examined the situation as it unfolded, it was insanely obvious that they knew each other, and something bad went down when Beth and Maggie were "out", probably not with Hershel when whatever happened... happened.

"Guess you don't need no introductions." Daryl suddenly spoke up, breaking the tension, I gave a nervous laugh and stared at AJ's chubby face, "Yeah, I guess not. When all this started, I met Hershel and me and my group stayed on his farm for a little bit." I explained as I bounced AJ up and down. In the corner of my eye I could see Daryl staring at me, but I simply ignored it. "She has a cut on her hand, looked pretty bad." Daryl said to Hershel. Hershel simply nodded and grabbed a pair of crutches right next to him and lifted himself up, the blonde girl putting a hand on his back in case he falls. I turned to Hershel as he walked up to me, "It's not that bad." I deflected, trying to defuse the situation. He turned his head to me a brief moment, "Well, let me see it first." He spoke as he walked (hopped?) past me and into the room I was in previously, I followed him, still carrying AJ. Hershel struggled a bit to sit down on one of the tables with the medical supplies placed messily on top of said table so I offered to help, "No, no, I ain't that old yet." He finally sat down, setting his crutches to the side as I sat down.   
I carefully put down AJ on the seat next to me and began to unwrap the cloth, I winced as the wound began to sting, being exposed to the harsh temperature. The bleeding stopped, so now the cut had a pink tinge to it. I set my hand on the table, palm facing up as Hershel gently took it and examined it.  
  
"Well, I'm happy to tell you it doesn't need stitches." He stated, looking back up at me. I internally sighed upon hearing that answer, even though I was used to stitches, didn't mean I liked them. "But it will need to be cleaned and bandaged." I shrugged a little bit and stifled a laugh, "Well, I guessed that part." Hershel flashed me a smile before laying his eyes on AJ. "So, are you going to tell me what a little girl is doing alone with a baby?"  
I bit my lip, darting my eyes towards the cut on my hand, avoiding eye contact. "I ran into a group, there was a pregnant woman there... she died not long after AJ was born." Hershel looked at me with sympathy, "It must be hard to take care of a baby out there. I'm sorry you had to go through that. But it's safe here, you can raise your boy here."   
A smile appeared on my lips at that comment, but I knew I wouldn't stay. I couldn't. Every group I end up with... always ends the same way. I didn't want to watch that again. I _couldn't_ watch that again. I shook my head, quietly sighing, "Thank you, but I'm not staying here for the long run. I'm only staying here for a bit. I'll... I'll help out though." Hershel grabbed the bottle and poured it on a rag, and then started to dab the cut with said rag. I winced, my palm feeling like it was on fire. Hershel got another dry rag as he continued to talk, "I noticed Lee's not with you," He dabbed the dry rag on my cut. My shoulders slumped and I looked away, my eyes wandering over to the barred door only to notice the boy from earlier I saw at the gates leaning against one of the fences near the barred door. I looked back at the floor. "I can only assume what happened, so you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." Hershel added. After a brief moment of silence, I answered, "He got bit." I answered curtly, my eyes darting anywhere but Hershel or that boy's face. Hershel stopped dabbing the cloth on my cut and looked back up at me, "I'm sorry, I know how it is to lose people."   
  
I tried to manage a smile but ultimately failed, "Yeah." I spoke quietly, focusing my attention on AJ. The gurgling baby boy only returned a goofy smile. I smiled back, until looking back to Hershel as he bandaged up my hand. Hershel finished up with the bandages and I held my hand up, flexing my fingers slightly. "Thanks." I said, giving him a small smile. He nodded and gave me a smile too before he got back up, "Well, I have other things to attend to, maybe introduce yourself to the others. Carl's about your age, maybe you'll get along."  
"The kid with the hat?" I asked, tilting my head as I picked AJ back up.  
"Yes, and I think we should have an extra box around here to put AJ in for now..." He trailed off as he glanced at the baby, "I'll have Beth get one for him." Hershel then walked away, back into the cell block, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I sighed and looked back up to the area where the apparent Carl was, only to just see no one there. I raised an eyebrow and looked back at AJ. The boy gave a cute little smile, and I couldn't help but smile back.  
  
_"I was thinking we go with Alvin Junior, what do you think? Rebecca mentioned she'd like to name it Alvin, if it was a boy."_  
  
"Huh, yeah, I like it."

_"Alvin Junior it is... Do you like that?... I think AJ approves."_

I blinked frantically, snapping myself out of the memory. _Stop thinking about it, _I silently scolded myself, inhaling sharply. I started to walk up to the entrance to the cell block, only to almost bump into the blonde girl from earlier. I saw her slightly jump at my sudden presence but she quickly regained herself. I looked down and noticed she was carrying a box, "Um- Daddy told me to give you this." She told me, my eyes slightly widened and I backed up a little bit. "Oh, um, can you put it on the table? I can't really..." I trailed off, motioning to AJ. She nodded and flashed me a smile, "Of course." She answered as she walked past me and placed it on the table. I noticed there was already a soft, nice blanket placed in the box, definitely better than the ratty old blanket I had. I gently placed AJ in there, resting my hand on the side of the box as the baby cooed. "He's cute." I looked to my left to see the girl smiling at him, then looking back to me. "What's his name?"  
"Alvin Junior, he was named after his dad." I answered truthfully with fond memory. 

The blonde girl's soft eyes looked back at the baby fondly, and then spoke once again, "I've always liked babies, I'm Beth, Hershel's my daddy, I have a sister, I think you'll like her." 

I grinned, and jokingly tipped my hat, "Clementine." Beth giggled at my wit and continued, "We have another baby here, a girl, might be a playmate for little Alvin here in the future."  
The grin on my lips turned into a sad one, knowing I wouldn't be staying here for that long. Despite this, I didn't tell her. "Maybe." Was my only answer to that. 

Rick breathes were shaky, unsteady as he paced back and forth, the walker that ate his wife sitting lifelessly in front of him, and the desk where the phone had been placed right next to him. As he continued to pace he heard a door creak open and he shot up, quickly grabbing his colt python, slowly walking a few steps forward before stopping. He saw Hershel hopping down the stairs with his crutches, balancing with each step he took. Rick swiftly put his gun back in his holster, looking down to the floor as Hershel made his way to the steps. Once Hershel got down he stood facing Rick, and then motioned to the stool a few feet behind the sheriff, "May I?"   
Rick slightly shrugged, nodding his head before getting the stool and placing it in front of Hershel. He walked away quickly after, walking to the other side of the desk and put his hands on his hips as Hershel sat on the stool, placing his crutches on the side of the stool to lean on.

Hershel let out a quick sigh as he rubbed his leg, right above where it was previously chopped off only a few days ago. "Still feel it," He chuckled a bit as he looked up at Rick, "I'm wiggling my toes right now." 

The sheriff didn't respond to the joke, continuing to look at the desk. "I'm a ghost from the knee down." Rick's finger twitched a bit, needing to fiddle with something as he let out an short and quiet sigh, "I'm sorry." He spoke, his tone barely audible.  
Hershel's smile dissipated, his gaze still locked on Rick. "You saved my life, Rick." Rick looked back into the hall, where the walker that ate his wife's remains lay as Hershel continued, "She was sorry for the things that happened. She told me that. She planned on telling you."   
Rick continued to keep his gaze away from Hershel, looking to the ceiling to the floor. "Take your time, whatever you need. You carried us, you didn't let us give up. You got us here." Hershel said, but Rick quickly spoke over him before he could continue, "It's not enough, it's not safe enough." The brunette desperately explained. Hershel shook his head, "There isn't anywhere else. I know you want to get away from this but... we've run already." Rick looked down to the floor, wiping his face with his thumb.

"I got a call."

Rick finally looked Hershel in the eye as he spoke, but all the elderly man did was look at Rick with suspicion and pity, "What?"

"Someone called," Rick placed the dust covered, coal black telephone in front of Hershel, "on this phone. A woman. She was young, she was part of a group." Hershel looked down at the phone with worry, "She said they had a safe place." 

Hershel picked up the phone from the set, putting it up to his ear, yet all he could hear was static. Rick continued, "They said they were just dialing numbers and I picked up. She said they'd be calling back. If it sounds right, I want to talk them into taking us in."  
Hershel put down the phone and placed his hands in his lap, "Did she say where they were?" He questioned, clearly suspicious and worried for their group's leader.   
"No, but it doesn't matter. If it's safe, we'll get there." Rick began to turn his heel, "Don't tell the rest of the group. Not yet." He went back to his original spot, at the edge of the desk. Hershel looked from the phone, to Rick, "I'll sit here with you. That's something I'm pretty good at nowadays."  
The sheriff looked at him for a brief moment with his pale, green eyes. "No."

Hershel gave a slow exhale and nodded. The elderly man was hesitant to tell the leader, as he wasn't in the most sane place, but decided it was better he know now anyways. "Daryl found a girl," Rick's eyes shot up from the phone, but he remained quiet. "a girl and a baby. He took them back here." Rick went to his full height and walked over to Hershel, "You brought a stranger here? With us? With Carl? With the... with the baby?" Rick still kept his quiet and serious tone, but it was slightly louder this time. "Rick, I knew her, the people she used to be with. They were decent people."

"She's a stranger." Rick backed away slowly, his eyes darting to the ceiling, the corner of the room, the floor..  
"Rick, it's a child and a baby."  
"We don't know them."

Hershel tilted his head as he tried to convince the sheriff that Clementine was no harm, "I do. I knew her for a short while when this first started... That could've been Carl and the baby, Rick."  
Rick exhaled through his nose before turning around and continued pacing. Hershel let out a sigh, hoping Rick will come to accept Clementine. Hershel got off the stool, hopping to get back on his crutches and walked out of the room, leaving Rick Grimes to his own thoughts.

Daryl came out of the cell block, the boy from earlier, or Carl as Hershel called him, and a tall dark-skinned man wearing a white tank top following behind him. "Clementine," I whipped my head around at the call of my name, to see the source of the call was Daryl. His head was turned to me as he continued, "We're about to go check the tombs, you comin'?"

I raised an eyebrow, "Checking the tombs?"

What I didn't expect was to hear was Carl speak up, "We're going to see if there's any walkers left." The boy spoke with a sense of confidence that reminded me of my old self, a few months ago. "So are you coming or not?" He asked, his head tilting slightly downwards that made the brim of his hat cover half of his eyes. "How else am I going to pull my weight?" I snarkily replied, with a slight shrug of my shoulders. "Then let's get goin'." Daryl said, already beginning to walk ahead of us. I quickly snatched my screwdriver as I ran up behind him.

As we were on our way I noticed Carl was staring at the screwdriver I was holding. I turned my head, finally confronting him as we continued to walk. "What?" I questioned as his eyes shot up, looking into mine. "Why the screwdriver?" He asked, his grip on his gun remaining the same. I shrugged my shoulders as I turned my head, focusing my attention to my front. "A friend gave it to me, gets the job done at least." Carl turned his gaze away from me and continued walking, partially satisfied with the answer.

We walked out of another doorway, leading to two different halls. Daryl walked ahead, the tall, tank top wearing man (I think Daryl called him Oscar?..) following close behind. At the sound of a door creaking, we all shot our heads towards said door. It was little bit down the hall, not too far. It was being pushed open, and then it would fall back before we could see what was inside. Oscar then spoke at a low tone, "Check it out, man."   
Daryl turned off and put away his flashlight, stuffing it in his pocket as he got both hands on his crossbow, prepared to fire at any moment. "Must have missed it last night." Oscar added. Daryl examined it, before backing up a little bit. "It's probably just one or two of 'em," He pressed a finger on the door, then poked it, "Don't look they got much fight."

Daryl glanced to Carl and I, before looking ahead of him again, "They ain't going no where. We'll take care of it on the way back."   
Carl walked a few steps ahead of me and seemed to get lost in thought as he looked down on the ground, seeing the walker bodies scattered on the floor. Daryl walked up next to Carl, whistling to him. Carl snapped his attention to the man, and Daryl nodded his head to a hall to his left as Oscar stayed farther back. "Come on." Daryl softly said to the younger boy.  
I followed silently behind them, screwdriver ready in hand as Daryl started up a conversation.  
I placed each step carefully, using my best efforts to not step on any walkers. The squishing feeling of them under foot just made me shutter. "You know, my mom, she liked her wine." My eyes shot up to Daryl, staring at the back of his head of greasy hair, but I guess I was no better. Not like hygiene was a main concern in the apocalypse. I continued to listen closely to Daryl's story, "She liked to smoke in bed." Daryl looked back at us for a brief moment before looking to where he directed his flashlight, "Virginia Slims." 

I scoffed, "Sounds like a responsible mom." I commented as I stepped over another walker, "Yeah. Sometimes I don't think she really wanted me or my brother."   
My eyes shot up, looking at Daryl with a sense of sympathy. _He had a brother? _No one I saw so far looked related to him, and no one talked about a 'Daryl's brother'. A frown found itself on my face.  
I looked back to the floor, examining the walkers beneath me as he continued, "...I was playing out with the kids in the neighborhood. I could do that with my brother, Merle gone. They had bikes, I didn't. We heard sirens getting louder. They jumped on their bikes, ran after it, you know, hoping to see something worth seeing."  
My eyes wandered over to Carl's figure, I couldn't see his face, only bits of his mouth. The brim of his cowboy-looking hat covered his eyes, along with strands of his dark brown hair. All I could see was the frown plastered on to the boy's face. "I ran after them, but I couldn't keep up. I ran around a corner and saw my friends looking at me... Hell, I saw everybody looking at me. Firetrucks everywhere.. People from the neighborhood." Daryl's voice got a little rougher as he spoke, "It was my house they were there for. It was my mom in bed... burnt down to nothing."   
I felt a heavy weight in my heart at hearing those words, feeling a terrible sense of déjà vu. 

I noticed Carl looked up as Daryl looked directly into Carl's eye before looking in front of him, "That was the hard part."   
  
"You know, she's just gone. Erased. Nothing left of her." His voice softened for a brief moment before going back to his normal tone. "People said it was better that way." He gave a short laugh, "I don't know. Just made it like it wasn't real, y'know?"  
  
"I shot my mom."  
  
Upon hearing those words, Daryl and I turned our heads to Carl, him looking at the both of us. He looked back at the ground, avoiding eye contact. "She was out. Hadn't turned yet." Carl looked back at the two of us. "_I _ended it. It was real." The boy's eyes wandered back to the floor, facing his head down, "Sorry about your mom."

"Sorry about yours."  
Feeling like I was intruding on a personal conversation, I walked ahead of them and nodded my head to the hallway further down, "C'mon, let's get going."  
  
  
  
Everyone walked in silence, guards up, and ready for any walkers that were going to spring at them. That is, until we passed a cell. Oscar flashed his light into an empty cell and his face lit up, "Oh, that's what I'm talking about." I whipped my head around, Daryl and Carl doing the same, to see what the hell he was doing. Daryl passed by Carl and I, walking into the cell that Oscar was in. I stood in the doorway, Carl doing the same. "Mmhm, yeeaaah...Yeah buddy!" Oscar cheered quietly as he picked up a pair of... slippers? "What the hell do you need slippers for?" Daryl asked the question all three of us were wondering. Oscar looked up from the pair of slippers and looked at Daryl as if he just grew another head, "You know, end of the day, relaxing." He answered as if it was the most normal thing to do in this kind of world. A laugh left my lips as I heard that.  
A walker snarling echoed in my ears and my body immediately tensed, adrenaline started to rush through my body as I whipped my whole body around, getting into a fighting stance with my screwdriver. Daryl shot an arrow directly into the walker's forehead, Oscar and Carl popping a few bullets into it, too. I stood there rather awkwardly, as I had no firearm.  
After the walker was down, we all took a breather for a brief moment, Daryl letting out a puff of air as he glanced at all of us at a time, "Alright." He said as he began flashing his light on to the walker. "Must have been in the cell at the end." Oscar guessed, I took a step closer to the corpse and noticed the unusual sight, there was a knife lodged into the side of it's throat. I raised an eyebrow at the sight and looked to Daryl, he seemed to notice it as well. "We checked everywhere else." Oscar stated as he looked around the halls. Daryl crouched down to reach and grab the knife, he slowly pulled it out, the blood making a cringe-worthy 'splat' noise as the weapon was pulled.   
Daryl pulled it out and examined it, his face written with confusion and a little awe. I thinned my lips, wondering why he was so fascinated with a simple knife.   
"That's Carol's knife..." Daryl spoke quietly, and I couldn't help but wonder, "Who's Carol?" realizing I spoke aloud, I just went along with it as Daryl, not bothering to look up at me, knife still in hand answered, "She was part of our group." I frowned, noting the 'was' in his sentence. He started to rub off the blood on the knife on the shirt of the walker. He got up, his eyes still directed towards the knife. "Let's check a few more blocks, then we'll head on back."  
  
  
  


Our group of three (Daryl wanted to stay behind, for whatever reason) walked down the hall, me walking right behind Oscar, Carl still seemed weary of me so he seemed to go at a slower pace behind me. As we got closer to the barred door that led to the cell block I originally saw, I heard a baby crying. My eyes widened, _AJ? _I thought to myself, my instincts kicking in and thinking something might be wrong. I pushed myself ahead of Oscar, hearing an annoyed 'hey!' behind me, but I couldn't care less. AJ was in danger. I burst through the door, alerting everyone in the room, shooting their heads towards me. "Where's AJ?" I asked to no one in particular, concern and worry lacing my voice. 

Suddenly, Hershel spoke up, "He's with Beth. That was lil' ass kicker crying. Your boy is fine." A wave of relief washed over me as my tensed shoulders relaxed. I worded a quick 'sorry' and walked down the stairs, walking to the side of the table Hershel sat at. "Can I see him?'  
Hershel laughed, "Of course, I'm not going to ban you from seeing him." Attempting to go along with the joke, I let out a laugh but it ended up sounding forced and awkward. Hershel then pointed to the cell block that I saw earlier and I nodded, sending him a silent 'thank you' as I turned around and quickly walked to the cell blocks. There was a small table on the platform the stairs led up to, where I saw two boxes sitting there, with Beth holding a baby I never saw before. Her head was tilted, fondly smiling at the baby. I wondered if she was the mom. Her eyes flashed to me, and her smile widened a bit.   
Once I walked up the stairs I laid my eyes on AJ, who was now in a cozy, red onesie. I placed my hand on the railing, admiring how _normal _AJ looked. No guns in sight, no dirty blankets, he just looked... normal. Other than his crib being a cardboard box, of course. I looked to the other box beside his, it was probably the other baby's. It had the words 'Little Asskicker' written on the side of it with colorful letters. Noticing the feminine pink clothing on the baby, I looked back at Beth, "Is she yours?"   
Beth looked from the baby to me, "Oh, no, no... She's not mine. She's Rick's." I raised an eyebrow, "Rick?"  
She bounced 'Little Asskicker', glancing at the baby. "Sorry, Rick's our leader. You haven't met him yet." I let out a quiet 'oh' and looked back to AJ. Beth let out a quick sigh looked back to me, "Well, I need to make dinner. Wanna come?"   
"Sure." I answered, picking up AJ. We walked down, gently carrying the two babies down the stairs. We got into the next room with the tables, and I saw Beth hand 'Little Asskicker' to Hershel, who was sitting down. I noticed some people I saw sitting next to each other, Carl at the table Beth was, where she was making dinner, Hershel over at the next table next to theirs, and Oscar at his own table.  
Geez, I felt like the new kid at school, not knowing who to sit with because I didn't know anyone. Well, I kinda knew Daryl. A little. But he wasn't here. I bit my lip and simply decided to sit alone, on the steps. In the corner of my eye I saw Carl stare at me but I ignored it, my attention was focused on AJ, even though the baby was just looking around, not doing much. In the corner of my eye, I saw Carl walk over to my little area, and lean on the bars next to the stairs. "He's quiet." The cowboy-hatted boy spoke, not loud enough for the others to hear, but for me to hear. I shrugged my shoulders, eyes still on the boy, "He's always been like that. I don't know why, but I'm kinda thankful for it." I turned my head to Carl, and he looked up from the baby to me. "What happened to his parents?"   
My whole body seemed to slump at the mention of my old friends that I only knew for a short while. "Are they dead?" He asked, looked backing to AJ, who was making little gargling noises at Carl. I didn't have to answer him, but he opened up himself in front of me about his mom, even though it may not have been directed at me, he still was comfortable enough to say that in front of me. My mouth twitched, a little hesitant to answer. "Yeah. It wasn't that long ago. AJ's dad was... was beaten to death. His mom died a few days after he was born. I was... I had to take care of him."  
His eyes wandered back to mine. I usually was good at reading people, from being around so many different types, I could read anyone like a book, yet Carl's was harder to decipher. They were sad, but there was something else I couldn't figure out. Fear? Weariness? Paranoia? Who knows.  
"Yeah. They were good people."   
Beth then called over Carl to help her with something, and he took another glance at me before walking over to help Beth with whatever.  
I watched the people around me just... relax, like it was normal. Semi-normal, at least.   
Hershel was cradling Judith, Beth was mixing... _something, _for dinner, Carl was sitting beside her, watching her (and me, but I knew why, I was new, unknown) stir whatever she was making. Oscar was sitting somewhere off to the side, mostly out of sight. 

My eyes shot up when I heard footsteps coming from the barred door in the other corner, not the one behind me. I saw a man slowly walk out from the door, and I tensed up, but once I noticed everyone else fine with him in the room, I relaxed a bit but I was still on edge. He was pale, brown, curly hair with a shadowed beard that has some gray hair. He had light eyes, like Carl's and wore a faded green flannel, along with jeans and a pair of worn out boots. I noticed Carl brighten up a bit at the sight of the man. Actually, I noticed everyone stare at him. Hell, I was too. I noticed him shoot his eyes towards me, his eyes in a slight glare, but once again focused his attention towards the baby Hershel was holding lovingly in his arms. The man hesitantly walked towards Hershel and the baby, and tilted his head the the girl, like a puppy discovering a new object would. Carl stood up, him and Beth watching the scene unfold. I stood where I sat, glancing between AJ and the man and the baby girl.   
The baby started to fuss, and Hershel smiled at the man. "_She's not mine. She's Rick's.... Sorry, Rick's our leader. You haven't met him yet." _I heard those words in my head as I eyed the man, was that Rick? Probably, judging by the way he was carefully picking her up, holding her like his life depended on it. Who I guessed to be Rick, smiled and looked up, his eyes glossy. He held the baby close to his chest and looked around, specifically at his group and placed a kiss on top of the baby's head.  
  
  
  
Rick went out to take a stroll around the prison with the baby and the others. I didn't want to intrude, so I didn't join them, this was their moment, not mine. Oscar went off somewhere else, a "perimeter check" or something along the lines of that. I gently set AJ down into the box Beth gave me and a small smile appeared on my face. Maybe I would have a good sleep tonight. Hopefully. I haven't slept normally in months.   
My thoughts were cut off when I saw Daryl busting through the barred door Rick came out of earlier, with a older looking woman in his arms, she looked like she was on the verge of passing out. She had short, black and mostly gray hair, with a hairstyle that was all too familiar. 

He came sprinting over to the table that had food and water stored on it, and quickly and gently set her down on one of the seats, grabbing a water bottle and putting it up to the older woman's lips, making her drink the water. "What's going on?" I asked frantically, running up to Daryl. "Just grab some food, nothing too much, but enough to stop her hunger." He looked up to me briefly, before devoting his attention to the woman who was weakly drinking the water. I nodded and ran over to the food supply, grabbing an apple that was in a bag. I ran back over to the pair and handed Daryl the apple as he was pushing away the bottle from the woman. She sighed and closed her eyes for a brief moment as Daryl handed her the apple. I noticed Daryl was very caring for the woman. I raised an eyebrow as I spoke, "Do you know her?"

Daryl nodded and looked over to me, "She's Carol."  
My eyes slightly widened as my attention shot back to the woman who took a bite of the apple I handed Daryl. She looked up at me, her eyes written with confusion. She had light eyes as well, like Rick and Carl, but she was much older than Rick. I was barely able to hear her when she spoke, "...Who...?.." She trailed off, so incredibly weak and drained she wasn't even able to finish her sentence. Daryl was able to answer for her, "Her name's Clementine." Daryl shot a glance towards me and then back to Carol, "She's good." I couldn't help but be a little happy that Daryl approved of me, even though I wasn't staying that long. I nervously rubbed the back of my neck as Carol continued to eat her apple, and I walked off to the stairs I was previously sitting on. I leaned my head against one of the bars on the railing of the small steps as Daryl sat next to me.  
A few minutes of silence went by until I finally spoke.

  
"I saw my parents in a herd of walkers."

In the corner of my eye I could see Daryl's head shoot up and stare at me, I continued, "I was covered in walker guts. I couldn't put them out of their misery, or else I would get killed. I just... stood there. Saw them just limping by." I was avoiding eye contact, staring straight ahead of me, my eyes half lidded and my eyebrows facing upwards. "Same day I had to shoot my best friend." I whispered, barely loud enough for him to hear me. 

Daryl looked down to the floor, hands clasped together as he thought for a brief moment on what to say. What could he say to that? How old was she? Maybe ten, eleven? She still looked pretty young. Losing both your parents, and then having to shoot someone you care about.  
"I'm sorry." Was all that came out of his mouth, I looked over to him, his eyes meeting mine. "Sounds like a shitty day." He said softly.

A quick sigh left my lips as I looked back ahead of me, "Yeah. It was." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, that was definitely more than a week. I don't really have an excuse other than pee pee poo poo my life is shitu so yeah. Once I want the next chapter to be as long as this one you'll probably have to wait 2 more weeks again, but then again nothings set in stone.  
-Poxy

**Author's Note:**

> This was a relatively short chapter, I'll make the next one longer. Also, in this AU they're a little over a year into the apocalypse, not two years like in the video game. Clementine basically stays with Christa for a shorter time. This chapter takes place 5 months after the events of season 2 of the game, and will be into the first few episodes of season 3 in the show, yes yes, I know, TWDG takes place in the comic universe but I haven't read the comics yet so I'm using the show's plot.
> 
> \- Poxy


End file.
